St. Patricks Day

I love St Patrick's Day. It is one of my favorite holidays. Have you ever studied St Patrick himself? He was an amazing man to say the least. He lived somewhere between 350-450 A. D. (well before the catholic church) and was raised in England. When he was about 15 he was picked up in a raid and taken to be a slave in Ireland for the next 10 (or so) years. He had been raised Christian, and during his time as a slave, his love and devotion to God, as well as the safety and assurance he felt from God, only grew. One night he heard the audible voice of God telling him to...Return to his homeland. And so he did. He made a rather fastening journey, it was very roundabout, but he finally made it back to England. Once there, he began to feel very heavily that God was calling him back to Ireland as a missionary.
Thus he went, with only Gods word to sustain him, back to the people who had enslaved him as a youth. He is famously associated with the 3-leaf Clover, or Shamrock...the reason is because the three leaves were a perfect illustration as to how God can be one God and Three Persons. Just as it is one clover with three leaves.
In his later years, he went all over the known world starting churches. He operated in the supernatural every day, and it was said that he would raise people from the dead daily. He started many praise and worship centers, and multiple mission schools where he taught young people to know the word of God, and to operate in it, and to go out into the world. The movements which he started were not stopped until Constantine, and the rise of the Catholic Church. Thus, St. Patrick was a truly remarkable man. Here is the prayer he prayed daily. I love it, and I hope you will too...

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven;
Through the power of the Trinity
The Three in One
The One in Three
Light of the sun,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of the wind,
Depth of the sea,
Stability of the earth,
Firmness of the rock.

I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me;
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's hosts to save me
Afar and anear,
Alone or in a mulitude.

Christ shield me today
Against wounding
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through the mighty strength
Of the Lord of creation